Since I sent a lot of work out in September, it’s only inevitable that rejections poured in during October.

Here are my October statistics:

Poetry: No acceptances to report, but a poem was published last week on reformjudaism.org’s blog. I’m very proud of my Emma Lazarus blog post, because it includes this poem and showcases the research I did while a fellow at the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati. I sent out a chapbook manuscript, Chicken Fat, to four competitions. I received nine rejections from Agni, A Public Space, Gettysburg Review, Redivider, Lascaux Review, Rust + Moth, Hermeneutic Chaos, Potomac Review, and Minerva Rising. I’m not discouraged; it’s part of the numbers game, and one of the rejections was personal. I’m at work on another chapbook manuscript, tentatively entitled The Beetle of Terezín.

Fiction: My short story, “Last Survivor,” inaugurated Lilith’s fiction blog in October. I was thrilled when my university’s provost included this achievement in his last campus-wide email. I withdrew this short story, which had been sitting in inventory for nearly two years, from a contest.

I admire your transparency, Barbara. It helps all of us trying to create and play the publishing game at the same time. I’ve recently read a couple good posts on rejection and the conclusion seems to be that the more you submit the more rejections and acceptances you accrue. Rejections numbers will always be higher but if you don’t submit you don’t get accepted either. Makes sense. So I agree, it is a numbers game and one needs to shoo away discouragement and keep revising and sending things out. Currently, I am marketing a new essay and entering fiction and creative nonfiction contests. Good luck and keep us posted!

Yiddish Language, Culture, and History

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Writing Chai is a new, eighteen-month program of prompts from The Whole Megillah. Each month (on the 18th) members of the Writing Chai community will receive a prompt and have access to a private Facebook page to post their writing, … Continue reading →

Three quick things: No sooner did I send my work out do I begin to receive rejections. Form email rejections. Did they even read my work? Oy. I signed up for a free online course with the esteemed emerita Harvard … Continue reading →

The Challah Girl by Bracha K. Sharp, illustrated by Anita Tung, Mosaica Press, 2019 The Whole Megillah (TWM): What inspired you to write this story? Bracha K. Sharp (BKS): At first, it was actually more of a case regarding who … Continue reading →

Three quick things: I said I would and I did: I sent some of my poetry out into the world over the Labor Day weekend. I’d still like to send out more. I sent a new YA historical novel to … Continue reading →

Three quick things: I’m dedicating Labor Day to send some poetry out into the world. I wanted to use part of the weekend to revise a novella, but given other commitments, that’s just not going to happen. My Yiddish class … Continue reading →

Three quick things: Stay tuned for the September 18 launch of a new writing program from The Whole Megillah. It’s called Writing Chai, an eighteen-month program of writing prompts and sharing with an intense eighteen days of prompts starting December … Continue reading →

Zuckerman, Julie. The Book of Jeremiah: A Novel in Stories. Winston-Salem, NC: Press 53, 2019. 190 pp., $17.95. The Whole Megillah (TWM): What motivated this collection of linked short stories? Julie Zuckerman (JZ): The Book of Jeremiah started with one … Continue reading →

Three quick things: Some writer pals and I agreed today to meet up every August to write together at a retreat starting in 2020. Does anyone else do something like this? I’ll be taking a beginning Yiddish class this fall … Continue reading →

Three quick things: I wrote with an AWA group on Saturday and came up with two new poems for my YA work in progress. There is an opening in the next cycle of The Whole Megillah Online Fiction Workshop. The … Continue reading →